Vanderbilt University School of Nursing

The focus of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing is summed up into five words: innovation, research, visionary, diversity and values. The School of Nursing at Vanderbilt University has several graduate and postgraduate programs available and include online or on campus learning.

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Reach Your Goals!

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Great Support!

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Vanderbilt University Nursing Program

The School of Nursing at Vanderbilt University offers learning opportunities including, but not limited to, accelerated courses of study, several entry options, and select opportunities for nurses and non-nurses alike. Academic programs include:

Hospitalist Nurse Practitioner

A unique addition to the Vanderbilt courses is the option to become an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Hospitalist (AGACNP Hospitalist).

What do AGACNP Hospitalists do?

AGACNP Hospitalists are in hospital providers for patients who need in-depth medical care during their hospitalization. The hospitalist is prepared by Vanderbilt to provide multi-disciplinary services from admission to discharge. The hospitalist pathway is rigidly focused on providing care to critically ill patients and acutely ill, but not critically ill patients throughout the hospital.

Hospitalists are often utilized at both tertiary centers and community hospitals, therefore, securing a position in these centers and/or hospitals should not be difficult.

Special Note: Due to individual State Boards of Nursing and/or State Higher Educational rules, Vanderbilt School of Nursing may not be able to provide clinical placements and/or location choice(s), but every reasonable effort will be made to accommodate your placement request.

How to become an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP):

To become an AGACNP, the student must graduate from the Vanderbilt Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program.

Graduation from the Vanderbilt MSN program prepares the student to sit for the AGACNP certification examination and then become eligible for prescriptive authority consistent with individual state law(s).

Intensivist Nurse Practitioner

Another unique addition to the Vanderbilt program of the School of Nursing is to become an Intensivist Nurse Practitioner.

What do Intensivist Nurse Practitioners do?

Those who desire specialization as an Intensivist Nurse Practitioner will provide comprehensive care to adults with life-threatening illnesses in the intensive and critical care settings. The student will be part of multidisciplinary teams, mostly found in tertiary centers. This is an adrenaline-pumping job. The student can also specialize and treat different types of critically ill patients such as those in cardiac arrest, systemic shock, respiratory failure and/or arrest, multiple organ failure, overwhelming sepsis, acute coronary syndrome (MI), stroke, and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Many Intensivist Nurse Practitioners will seek the unique opportunity to join a myriad of highly specialized clinical teams. These teams include:

Critical Care Teams

Rapid Response Teams

Shock Teams

Burn Care Units

Cardiovascular Intensive Care Units

Medical Intensive Care Units

Neurological Intensive Care Units

Surgical Intensive Care Units

To become an Intensivist Nurse Practitioner, the student must graduate from the Vanderbilt MSN program which will prepare the individual to sit for the AGACNP certification exam. This will then allow the successful candidate to be eligible for prescriptive authority consistent with individual state law(s).

“Why should I choose Vandy?”

Here are just a few reasons our students choose Vanderbilt University:

2017 U.S. News and World Report rankings:

Vanderbilt University School of Nursing's (VUSN) Nurse-Midwifery specialty is ranked #1 in the nation.

The Vanderbilt MSN program is ranked #13.

The DNP program is ranked #10.

If you are searching for a way to advance your nursing practice to become an AGACNP Hospitalist, an Intensivist Nurse Practitioner, or even a Midwife, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing can help get you get started on the journey.

Come join us!

Latest Reviews (Max 10)

I've completed a community college LPN, ADN-RN and went to a university in the midwest for their ADN-BSN program ... Vanderbilt is in both breadth and depth, the best education I've paid for so far. it is also the most difficult. Currently in the ENP program and it's not a big class, this provides lots of support from classmates as well as instructors and facility support staff

About The Staff

instructors are "Field Experts" and fantastic resources throughout the program
everyone on staff (and on campus, for that matter) is as friendly as can be and offer assistance at every turn.

Things To Know

if you have a family, you'll need their support. The ACNP/FNP program is time consuming and resource heavy. Study hard and good luck!

Excellent program! Especially for non-RNs to MSNs. It is terribly rigorous however as soon as you graduate you WILL be ready to practice at entry level. VUSN pushes you beyond your comfort zone which will in turn prepare you for real life, lifesaving nursing. I venture to say that you will be so well prepared that you might notice that your skill and knowledge level is beyond that of some coworkers. As a prespecialty student some classes as big but the professors are entirely reachable. During MSN year the classes are about 10-20 people. VUSN is expensive but the knowledge and skill is worth every penny.

About The Staff

Everyone meets you where you are and brings you up to VUSN level.

Things To Know

Your patients will be thankful you went. It is a great school and learning experience. You WILL know what you are doing.